August 2021

August surpassed July in adoption numbers, with 218 adoptions: 22 dogs, 170 cats (meow!), and 26 other species (guinea pigs, rabbits, and birds). The shelter staff transferred an additional 61 dogs, 95 cats, and 140 other species to partner organizations.

Our longest term dog resident Ivy has found her forever home! Happy tails sweetie!

An update from kitten Buck’s adopter: “I wanted to let you know how things have been for Buck as he has settled into my home! He very quickly explored my apartment and after a couple of days, has developed a strong relationship with my current cat Willoughby. They’re now playing together a lot and Willoughby has taken on big-brother duties and regularly licks and cleans Buck (who I have renamed Percy).”

Fluffy boy Teddy has been adopted. Hooray!

We love Lava Cake! And now she has a family to love her too.

Molly’s been adopted!

Pretty Kitty with her new family, who are giving her a perfect new name: Patches. An update from her adopters: “Thank you everyone! Patches had a good transition for her first night and getting to smell all the new smells in our neighborhood. Her tail is up in the air and she is a happy puppy. Our son is giving her so much love and she is filling his heart.”

Woohoo! Little pup Pablo has been adopted!

Wombat with her new family.

Gorgeous boy Bentley just went home last week and we already have an update! “Just wanted to send some pictures of Bentley over and say thank you so much for everything!!! 4 days together and he has absolutely changed our lives. He is the best behaved, most loving, happy little pup ever. We still can’t wrap our heads around how perfect he is. Thank you for posting him to your social media page which led us to him. Thank you to all the SF animal care and control workers and volunteers who took him in and cared for him along with every other gentle soul they meet. Countless lives have been saved and changed for the better through your compassion. We are forever grateful!”

Montero

Hayes with his new family.

Montgomery

We love kitten updates, especially about bonded pairs! “I got these 2 sweeties this past month and the intros are going great. Just wanted to share. Formerly Grigio and Sol; now Monster (gray) and Taz (black).”

We just heard from the lucky family who adopted rattie pair Walt Jr. & Flynt: “We love our new members of the family. They are wonderful. I would like to thank the people working at Animal Control and the Volunteers for the wonderful adoption experience.”

Adopted pup Talulla has her own Instagram: @talullalovesyou

SFACC B&T Supervisor Katy Jones drove big boy Draco to a foster in Oregon (through the BRAVE Rescue organization). Draco was a wonderful passenger and BRAVE is a partner of SFACC that has done a lot for our bullies!

Sweet Halley was adopted by one of our own dog volunteers. Woof!

Big Mac is now named Milton. Adopted by former SFACC staff member Craig O’Brien:

“Brandon and I want to express our gratitude for everyone at Animal Care & Control San Francisco, thank you all so much! This big hunk is fitting in really well, he’s perfect! You all work like a well-oiled machine, lots of teamwork! Thank you Ketzia, Michael, Martha (she processed our adoption paperwork), Angelique, Tim, and a big thanks for Tony for the dog to dog, and the cat test! I can’t leave out all the wonderful volunteers, thank you for being of service! We know how hard you all work for the city’s animals, thanks for all you do, you’re all appreciated! Also, BIG THANK YOU to Officer Pone (Stephanie) for safely rescuing him while he roamed the streets of San Francisco! His new name is Milton, and he’s a big lover! He loves sleeping, car rides, and everyone who crosses his path … he’s completely non-reactive to other dogs. Milton and our 15 yr old kitty Quincy are getting a long really well, he’s super respectful, and he’s also become fast friends with our tortoise Chester-Perkins! We hit the lottery with this guy, we’re so incredibly grateful that he’s part of our family, thanks again everyone at Animal Care & Control San Francisco !!”

McKenzie Joseph – Friends of SFACC Director of Dev. & Communications

What do you do for Friends of SFACC ?
I started working with Friends of SFACC (Friends) the first week of February, 2020, as a Campaign Manager. My role was to work directly with the Board of Directors and SFACC to raise funds to support the new shelter and multiple Friends-funded programs at SFACC. I am now serving as Director of Development and Communications for Friends. My focus is to continue stewardship of our generous donors and solicit new donors to keep funding the Behavior and Training Program for SFACC, the Rescue Partner Grant program, along with other SFACC needs that are not funded by the City of San Francisco.

How did you become involved with the Friends of SFACC? 
I was not aware of all of the amazing services SFACC provides until I began preparing for this position. When I was looking to adopt my very first dog, SFACC was my first stop, but the day I went all of the available dogs were at an adoption event! I am glad that I was able to experience the old building without knowing about the capital project in the works. In just that short experience, it was obvious how much the animals and people of San Francisco needed and deserved a better facility.

Where did you grow up and have you always been interested in animals?
I grew up in Bakersfield, CA. My dream career as a child was to become a veterinarian because I couldn’t think of anything better than spending all day every day with animals. That dream quickly faded once I realized the tougher sides of being a vet. My parents are Great Dane lovers, and because it gets so hot in Bakersfield, our 100+ pound Great Danes were mostly house dogs, which I loved.  When I was younger, I also had a special fondness for smalls, and I always had either a lizard or turtle as my own pet that I didn’t have to share with my sisters.

Do you have pets of your own? What do you do when you’re not at work?
I share my home with one cat named Sloan and one dog named Grey. Sloan is an independent, lazy, loving, orange kitty who has finally warmed up to sharing his home and his mom with his hyper little sister, Grey. Grey is a mystery breed who came into my life from Family Dog Rescue when I was working for a non-profit in the Bayview. I live in Pacifica, so I spend much of my spare time with Grey either at the beach or hiking.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I can honestly say that I believe in the work SFACC does and find so much joy out of being able to play even the slightest role in their success. Working alongside other like-minded, animal-loving people makes every day a treat.

Grey and Sloan lounging together (Ruff life!)

July 2021

In July, SFACC completed 143 adoptions: 12 dogs, 120 cats, and 11 other species (guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, etc.). In addition, the shelter staff transferred 46 dogs, 77 cats, and 113 other species to partner organizations. Thank you to our fosters, adopters, and partner organizations!

A potential adopter, Amy, and her daughters drove from Santa Rosa to visit a hamster who turned out to be in foster. Luckily we had 3 other hamsters for them to visit.
As they visited with the hamsters, another mom and daughter were talking to shelter representative Martha about adopting a hamster named Taro. The mom and daughters from Santa Rosa then came to the desk interested in adopting the same hamster! The mom and her daughter who were at the desk first said “They can adopt her instead. Since they drove from Santa Rosa, they deserve it.” That made Martha’s (and everyone else’s) day! And they adopted equally adorable hamster, Lightning. They all became besties and two adorable hamsters got adopted. Thanks to Martha for sharing this story!

Tommy Pickles has been adopted and is happy at home with his new family.

Macx’s awesome Dads celebrated his 5th birthday recently. This is him floating down the Russian River). No cake but we heard he ate a whole rotisserie chicken for dinner. We miss you, Macx and we love that you are living your best life!

Our largest scale update yet! “I adopted Nell (shelter name Sugar) in Jan 2020 and she’s been the absolute best kitty & companion for every life milestone. Today she was by my side for my company’s IPO—and Nasdaq posted our picture on a 120′ tall neon sign in Times Square! She’s expecting calls from talent agents any time now.”

An update AND a beautiful portrait: “I adopted Chip and Oreo, two guinea pig pals, very happy, they’re getting settled.”

June 2021

In June, SFACC completed 143 adoptions: 12 dogs, 120 cats, and 11 other species (guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, etc.). In addition, the shelter staff transferred 46 dogs, 77 cats, and 113 other species to partner organizations. Thank you to our fosters, adopters, and partner organizations!

Handsome Keesa was adopted and one week later we received an update! “We just rescued Keesa (now Ernest Hemingway, or “Ernie”) and he’s acclimating well and is a brave, sweet boy!…(And getting cuddlier each day!)”

Sweet kitten Purry is heading home with her new family!

Yay! Pretty girl Noodle has gone home!

Yay! Cutie pie Tyga went home with his new family!

Adoption Success Story – Welcoming Enzo

woman and cat kissing

By Judi Basolo
SFACC Adopter

My beloved cat Guido the Italian Kitty was born at SFACC and I adopted him at the SFSPCA. He passed two months shy of his 15th birthday, and within two days, Grappa (my 7-1/2 year old calico) and I moved 48 hours later to a new home here in SF. It was CAT-Oh-Strophic for sure (I’d never wish this stress on anybody). Grappa had always lived with Guido in that home and here she and I were without him, and in a place filled with 69 cardboard moving boxes.

I felt my life had imploded yet I knew my cat-momma job was to get the boxes out of the house for Grappa and for us girls to have a new life. But she missed Guido so much. I started searching for a kitten because as a calico with her own mindset and I realized Grappa needed a youngster so she could train them. In my search I found no kittens for adoption in S.F., on the Peninsula, in Marin County or even in Yolo County (I’d adopted two kitties previously from the Yolo SPCA). In March, it seemed that kitten season was delayed.

I reached out to my long-time friend Virginia Donohue who happens to be the director of SFACC, and she said “Hey I told you a week ago about Toni’s Kitty Rescue!”  It’s true she had, but in my moving stress I’d not paid attention, so I called Toni who said “We have one tux kitten that’s in foster care now,” and she connected me with Ginny Chin (an experienced foster kitten volunteer for TKR and the shelter).

Phew. Now it’s Friday April 16th. I phoned Ginny who FaceTimed me with her one and only kitten. He was precious and wild, racing around in the video, and she said “Well do you want him?” The answer was YES, and I immediately told her “ENZO Furrari is coming to our home!”  DON’T ask me how I came up with his name–although all my kitties have had Italian names: Baci, Guido, Grazie, and Grappa.

The following Wednesday, Ginny met me in the parking lot of SFACC and I cried tears of joy meeting my new inky, dinky little man cat! His story it turns out is that Enzo was found at 7-10 days of age in a metal works site in an industrial neighborhood of SF. A good Samaritan found him and brought him into the shelter. Thank GOD is all I can say. He weighed only 10 ounces, his papers show.

Losing Guido after almost 15 years broke my heart and Grappa’s heart was broken too but now, Grappa and I are back on track thanks to SFACC putting me in touch with Toni’s Kitty Rescue.

Enzo is a bundle of joyous smitten kitten and we are a family again. My advice? Don’t give up on your search—the kittens are out there and are ready to love you!